


A Fresh Start

by CrazyGhoul



Category: Slipknot (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Eventual Fluff, Gen, M/M, Platonic Relationships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-01
Updated: 2019-07-02
Packaged: 2020-05-31 18:17:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19431487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrazyGhoul/pseuds/CrazyGhoul
Summary: Jim moved to a new town, and so had to transfer to a new school. He really isn't that excited to go to a new high school though, but it couldn't be any worse than his old school, and he could get away from the annoying people from his old school. Expecting similar students, he didn't think he'd make many friends at Roosevelt High.  Lucky for him, the school does harbor some people who seem to share his interests.





	1. First Day

**Author's Note:**

> My first writing in quite a while, and my first on this site, so please excuse me if I seem a bit inexperienced.

Sid had spotted the new kid with the metal band hoodie putting away his textbooks in the locker nearby, and Sid swore he hadn’t seen him before. That meant one thing: there is a new kid in school. A kid who looked the type very much similar to Sid and his friends, considering the graphic horror movie t-shirt he was currently wearing. Most people sporting their look of the dark graphic sweatshirts or t-shirts, black jeans, and the random baseball cap would probably be on the receiving end of a bully. Though Sid doubted anyone would mess with this guy, he was extremely fucking tall and could probably handle himself. He wanted to say something to the new kid, maybe a quick hello or chat about the band on his hoodie, but before he could turn that thought into action the bell rang signaling them to head to their next class. Getting to his biology class, and nearly being late as usual, Sid knew he had to tell the guys about the new tall kid with the Iron Maiden hoodie, who could now give Mick a run for his money about being the tallest guy at their school.

After the long wait of an uneventful biology class and a hellish algebra class, the bell for lunch finally rang. He sprinted off to their usual lunch spot, the small grassy lawn hidden behind the music room and some bushes. Sid was always the first one there being the energetic Freshman he was. Craig was soon to join him in their secluded spot along with Paul, Mick, and Chris.

“Did you guys see the new kid? He’s wearing an Iron Maiden sweatshirt!” Sid blurted out, excitement written on his face over the appearance of a possible fellow metalhead, a not so common sight at their school. 

“Yeah, the tall guy? I saw him, he’s in my chemistry class,” Chris said as he sat down and started eating his lunch. “Think he was the only one in class who knew what the fuck was going on,” He laughed after swallowing a bite of his turkey sandwich. 

“He was probably the only one working,” Paul chimed in, knowing Chris didn’t do squat in that class.

Through their babbling Craig noticed in the corner of his eye the creeping of the white Japanese noh-styled mask, hiding in a nearby bush. He turned slightly to the face without anyone else noticing, staring into the grayish blue eyes and gesturing he knew who was there, and for them to continue their scheme. He knew exactly what Joey was going to do. Within milliseconds he watched as Joey pounced on the back of an unsuspecting Mick, earning himself a slight jump and annoyed grown from the larger teen, and laughter from the rest of them.

“Yeah I saw the new kid too,” Joey piped up, taking off the mask, putting it in his bag and planting himself next to Mick.. “He woulda crashed into me during passing period if I hadn’t moved over, dude is tall as hell.” 

“Is he so tall that he couldn’t see you in the hall Joey?” Paul laughed, making sure to add the teasing tone he knew Joey was annoyed by. All he got was a grunt from the short teenager. 

“You think he’s taller than Mick?” Craig asked, glancing at Mick and genuinely curious about this new student. They all looked at him. Craig didn’t say much, but when he did speak it meant whatever the topic was on is either important or interesting to him. It was the first time Chris had ever heard him talk, despite having known the kid since the beginning of the school year.

“Bet you twenty bucks he’s taller than Mick!” Joey yelled, toward anyone who was willing to take the bet.

“Bet who’s taller than Mick?” Corey asked as he had just turned around the building to hear Joey. “Bet that the new kid in Chris’ chem class is taller than Mick,” Joey explained.

“Ha, I don’t think he’s taller than me,” Mick finally added. He’d stayed quite to eat his lunch the entire time.

“Yeah, fucking doubt it, never seen anyone here taller than Mick,” Corey chimed. “You’re on then Corey,” Joey smirked, knowing well enough this guy was definitely taller than Mick, though not as built. It wasn’t long until Shawn joined them at their little hideout, he always spent the first part of lunch doing something that the rest of them never bothered to take notice of.

“Hey guys, there’s a new kid talking to the music teacher right now. Think he plays well?” Shawn asked the rest of them. They all perked up at the newfound knowledge of the new student, wondering if he also practiced music similar to the genre he wore.

“What was he talking to her about? Do you know what he plays?” Sid bombarded Shawn with his questions. “Hell if I know, wasn’t tryin to listen to him.” Shawn answered, taking a seat in the grass next to Chris. They chatted for the next fifteen minutes until the bell rang, separating them to their next classes.

He couldn’t say he was excited for the first day at his new school, not exactly being popular at his old school. He hoped he didn’t piss off the wrong person, which was unlikely due to his demeaning height and being a relatively chill guy. As expected, he got the usual stares from people not so different from the similar type people at his old school. Some were probably more curious about his height, others had definitely been judging him from a distance. He was relieved to notice some students out of the crowd that seemed to have the same interests as him. There was the younger kid with the medium length, slightly curly hair wearing the Halloween t-shirt, the tall and built long black-haired guy with the Metallica shirt he'd spotted walking u the stairs to his English class, and the short kid he almost ran over with the red streaks in his long black hair, wearing a black leather jacket and a Mötley Crüe shirt. To be fair, the guy was short as fuck, how the hell was he supposed to see him when he’s probably more than a foot taller than the kid.

The teachers were no different, some nicer, some annoying, and some just plain weird. At the end of the day he still couldn’t wait to leave school. At least his family had moved close enough to the school that he could walk home, so he started walking towards home as soon as school got out. He did see the short kid again, just before leaving campus. They had looked at each other right before he crossed the street to go home. He could tell it was a more friendly look compared to the many judgmental or curious ones he’d been getting all day, so he gave a slight smile back. He’d have to talk to that kid soon.

Joey too had noticed the smile when the tall teenager turned his head enough to see him and caught him staring, but he couldn’t dwell on it for long, he knew Shawn was waiting for him in the nearby parking lot to drive him home. And he knows Shawn would not be patient enough to wait for him to take his sweet time. He climbed into the car, the speakers already blasting whatever was on Shawn’s playlist.


	2. New Friends

Jim woke up to a cold morning, mentally yelling at himself under the sheets for leaving the window open all night. Groaning and rolling over in bed he checked the time, reading 6:30am on the digital clock sitting on the nightstand. The alarm was set to go off in thirty minutes, so there was no point in going back to sleep. He figured he’d get up early and treat himself to a hot shower. After throwing on some jeans, a t-shirt, and eating breakfast, he grabbed whichever sweatshirt his hand happened to connect with first out of the many different jackets occupying his closet. Throwing his backpack over one shoulder, he left the house and climbed into his dad’s car that had been waiting in the driveway for him.

“How was your first day?” his dad asked him while backing out of the parking space, having not been able to ask the night before due to working late.

“It was fine,” was all Jim said, keeping himself engaged in what little scenery the town had to offer through the car window. His dad only sighed as he drove on, hoping for a more detailed answer. Jim didn’t understand why his dad bothered asking, he was a Junior in high school not a 3rd grader. Thankfully, within a few more minutes they finally arrived in the school parking lot, and he could escape the awkward silence that had built up. Without exchanging any more words, he left the car with his bag and threw on his hood out of reflex, like he did every morning arriving at school. He never really knew when or why he started doing that, it’s not like the hood covered his face at all due to the dark brown puffball mess his hair preferred to be. Walking up campus, he checked his phone, noticing there was still about fifteen minutes until first period started, so he decided to make his way to the school library. As he had to think hard to remember exactly where the library was in the huge building, he hadn’t noticed the small red haired kid looking at him from slightly behind him.

“Iron Maiden again?” Joey finally asked, recognizing the album cover almost immediately and chuckling at the slight jump from Jim as he spoke up. Looking down, Jim hadn't noticed which sweatshirt he had thrown on earlier this morning.

“Oh.. yeah, I have a lot of their merch,” Jim said a bit quietly. He wasn’t sure what else to say, and thankfully, Joey broke the silence with ease.

“Where are ya headed?” he asked Jim. 

“Was going to the library, until I realized I forgot where the fuck it is,” he said, some nervousness showing through the humorous tone of voice. Joey silently laughed at his comment.

“Come on, I'll get you there,” he said, leading Jim down the hall that would take them to the library. While they walked Jim took a moment to watch the smaller teen walking in front of him. He watched the long black and red hair move around on his shoulders as he walked. The kid’s hair appeared well groomed and was probably soft to the touch. Now he was curious about that. Before he could think any more thoughts, or touch the soft looking hair in front of him, a voice brought him back to reality.

“So, what’s your name?” Joey asked him, a smile on his face and slowing his pace to meet Jim at his side. He certainly hadn’t expected the kid to be that friendly towards him so quickly.

“James.. or Jim, uh whichever you wanna say,” Jim answered, a bit disappointed at how awkward he sounded. If the other had noticed, he didn’t seem to care. 

“Call me Joey” he said after a few moments of silence, again with a slight smile towards the taller teen. 

“What else ya listen to?” Joey added in, now looking to make a more interesting conversation.

“The usual metal bands, I guess… Black Sabbath, Metallica, a few others.” He noticed the way Joey payed close attention to him after listing the first band, delighted to realize Joey did share a common interest with him.

Jim wanted to say more, ask or answer more questions but before he had the chance the bell rang for them to go to their first classes of the day.

“I’ll see you later, gotta get to English,” Joey said, darting off into the opposite direction they had been walking. He’d given Jim his friendly smile again before heading off.

Jim made his way to his chemistry class. As he sat down in his seat the teacher had announced that they were switching into new seats today. What perfect fucking timing he thought, as he currently didn’t sit next to anyone at his corner table in the back and he was comfortable there. He got up to sit in his new assigned seat when his name was called, taking a mental note that the name called before him was Paul, his new table-mate. At least the guy looked like a decent human being to Jim anyway, and he wouldn’t be stuck with some other person who’d purposefully mess with him.

He noticed Paul laughing next to him as soon as he sat down, looking at another student two tables ahead of them in the front who seemed to be irritated. The teen with long blonde hair looked back at Paul mouthing a ‘Fuck you Paul’ which only made him laugh harder. Jim couldn’t help but watch the exchange going on between them.

“Curse all you want, you’re gettin it later today,” Paul chuckled just barely loud enough to hear at the front of the class. He then turned to Jim. 

“Oh, you’re the new guy right?” Paul asked him after diverting his attention from the other student. 

“Uh yeah, who was that?” he answered, asking about the one Paul had just been talking to. Paul couldn’t help but chuckle again when answering Jim’s question.

“That’s my friend Chris, he doesn’t do shit in this class. That’s why he’s at the front desk over there,” he laughed again, barely able to finish his sentence. 

“If you get put in that desk, it means the teacher has to help and babysit you, only one other person has been up there before.” Now they were both laughing. Chris wasn’t going to hear the end of it from Paul and probably his other friends as well. 

“So, where are you from James?” Paul asked him. Jim poked his head up from his worksheet the teacher had passed around.

“Vegas.”

“That far? Why’d you move here?” Now Paul was generally curious. Someone had to have a good reason to leave Las Vegas for a small town in Iowa.

“Dad moved jobs.” 

Jim didn’t care to talk right now, he wanted to finish his work in class so that he wouldn’t have to do it at home, even if it was half assed. Paul figured he should get working too, otherwise the teacher would sit him next to Chris at the front table for talking too much. The both of them still managed to mumble to each other or exchange glances when something dumb or funny happened during class.

Before the end of class, Paul had one more question for Jim.

“You got anyone to sit with during lunch?” 

“No, I was just gonna go back to the library like yesterday.”

"Well, if you feel like it, you can join Chris and I behind the music building. I'm sure the other guys wouldn't mind, we'd probably adopt you into our group anyway whether you liked it or not," Paul joked. Jim couldn't help but smile to himself at Paul's welcoming attitude. 

"Sure, why not?" 

The bell rang, so they both took their leave going to their next class. Jim’s next four classes passed uneventfully, and he couldn’t lie about being delighted he’d be able to hang out with a group he would most likely get along with. Leaving his 6th period class after the bell for lunch rang, he spotted Paul down the hall and caught up with him outside of the main building.

“How were your last classes?” Paul asked.

“You know, mostly boring,” he laughed.

As they got to the group spot Paul was surprised to see that Sid wasn’t the first one there.Well, in just a few seconds Paul’s questions were answered. Sid came sprinting out of the nearby bushes towards them, rushing behind Paul. 

“You little shit give me my phone back!” an annoyed Corey could be heard nearby, the same direction Sid had just came from. He showed up soon after. 

“Sid you’re fucking asking for it,” Paul laughed, snatching the phone away from Sid and tossing it back to Corey.

Sid was about to protest, until he noticed the tall, brown haired teenager sitting next to Paul on the grass.

“Oh hey! It’s you!” Sid yelled, for some reason ecstatic to see Jim. Jim just looked back at Sid, having no clue what to say to him.

“Ignore him James, that’s Sid, he’s an energetic little freshman,” Paul laughed and teased. Sid glanced at Paul, hearing Jim’s name spoken from him. He looked excited, maybe because of a new presence Jim thought. Once Jim settled down in his spot, more people joined them, and he was surprised yet happy to see Joey among them, sitting atop the shoulders of another older student.. He should have been able to guess that Joey would have known Paul, Chris, and that kiddo Sid. From the looks of it, Joey was just as happy to see Jim, jumping down from the broad shoulders of Shawn and taking a seat next to him and sitting on his knees. Jim was going to voice a quick ‘Hey’ but Joey’s quick question caught him off guard.

“How tall are you James?” he asked, slightly excited and Jim wasn’t sure why.

“Um I don’t know... uh, maybe somewhere between 6’3 and 6’4?” he replied, a bit weirded out as to why Joey was asking him this. The smaller teen grinned wildly, getting up and turning around.

“I fucking told you Corey! Now pay up!” he yelled to another teenager now in their group, who was probably a few inches taller than Joey with long, blonde hair underneath a beanie. He groaned, annoyed, and pulled out a twenty from his wallet, handing it to Joey. They laughed at Corey’s annoyance.

“Wait, you made a bet about my height Joey?” Jim finally asked.

“He bet Corey that you’re taller than Mick,” Paul added, still chuckling. Jim figured Mick must be the other tall member of their group, with the long black hair. He remembered seeing him around campus yesterday. Soon enough the group went back to their usually chattering and bickering, a few asking about Jim but not much else. He could tell he was already finding his place with them, he got along with them well enough. He thought how lucky he was to have ended up at the school with these people.


End file.
